Hold Out

Browne started the ‘80s hoping to capitalize on *Running on Empty*’s success. He succeeded with *Hold Out*, his only album to reach No. 1 on the *Billboard* chart. This was due partly to the FM radio presence of “Boulevard” and partly to the album being his most polished and electrified to date. Keyboardist Craig Doerge adds synthesizers to his arsenal of Fender Rhodes, pianos, and organs, while David Lindley fires up the lap steel guitar and violin for perfect accompaniment. “Disco Apocalypse” lets Browne step out into a near-dance groove, while “Hold Out,” “That Girl Could Sing,” and especially the eight-minute “Hold On Hold Out” combine the love and ambivalence and eventual surrender of the human heart with the most joyous sounds of Browne’s career. “Of Missing Persons” remembers his friend Lowell George of Little Feat. Browne sings heartbreakingly to the daughter George left behind, Inara George, who’s now a performer herself.

If Jackson Browne had convincingly lowered the bar set by his first three albums on his fourth and fifth ones, his sixth, Hold Out, found him once again seeking some measure of satisfaction, albeit in reduced circumstances.